Healthcare is care you receive if you are ill, in pain or need support. Examples include care provided by a GP, hospital or dentist, as well as mental healthcare and physiotherapy.
If you live or work in the Netherlands, you must take out health insurance within four months. You pay a monthly amount, called a premium, for your health insurance. Your health insurance covers essential healthcare, such as visits to your GP, hospital treatments and medicines. If you do not have health insurance, you can be fined.
If you are coming to live or work in the Netherlands, you must take out health insurance within four months. Your insurance must be effective on your first working day. If you do not arrange it on time, you can be fined and you will have to pay any healthcare costs yourself. In some cases, you pay premiums retroactively.
Basic insurance pays for the most important healthcare. It is compulsory. You can also choose to take out supplementary insurance. This is not compulsory. Supplementary insurance reimburses the costs of other types of care, such as dentistry, physiotherapy and glasses. You decide whether this insurance is right for you.
An excess applies to every adult. This means that if you make use of healthcare, you will initially pay some of the costs. In 2026, the maximum amount you will pay is €385 a year. The excess does not apply to visits to a GP. If you do not make any use of healthcare, you will not pay any excess. No excess applies to children under the age of 18. If you have a low income, you can claim healthcare benefit. This is money you get from the government to help you pay for your health insurance.
If you live or work in the Netherlands, you need to be able to get medical help, for example if you are sick or have an accident or mental health problems. Health insurance enables you to get help from your GP, a hospital or pharmacy. If you do not have insurance, your healthcare costs will not be reimbursed and you will have to pay for everything yourself.
As an adult, you initially pay for part of your healthcare costs. This is called the excess. In 2026, the excess is €385 a year. You only pay this if you make use of healthcare, such as medicines or hospital care. The excess does not apply to visits to your GP or to children under the age of 18.
If your healthcare costs for a year are more than €385, your health insurer will pay the rest.
If you have a low income, you can claim healthcare benefit from Belastingdienst. This is money you get from the government to help you pay the monthly costs of your health insurance. To claim this, go to toeslagen.nl.
This website uses cookies. Read more about cookies in our cookieverklaring.
These cookies never collect personal data and are necessary for the correct functioning of the website.
These cookies collect data so that we gain insight into the use and can further improve this website.
Deze cookies worden gebruikt om statistieken te meten over het gebruik van de website (bijvoorbeeld via Google Analytics, Siteimprove of Matomo) en voor externe videodiensten zoals YouTube of Vimeo. Hiervoor maken wij gebruik van diensten van derde partijen. Deze cookies worden alleen geplaatst na jouw toestemming.
Jouw keuze aanpassen? Dat kan op elk moment via de cookie-instellingen in de footer.